The Security Council met Monday morning with prospects for peace in the Middle East under strain on two fronts. In the West Bank, settler violence and settlement expansion are raising fears for a two-State solution. In Gaza, a year-old peace plan has stalled while civilian…
At a time when war, climate crises and man-made disasters continue to displace millions around the world, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees will brief the Security Council on Friday.
This edition of UN News's The Takeaway recaps key highlghts at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, including focus on the war in Ukraine and a renewed push by African countries for Security Council reform.
The Vice-President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Abdullah Al-Alimi Bawazir, told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that his Government had engaged “responsibly and positively” with regional and international peace initiatives and made significant concessions to…
Kenyan President William Ruto told the General Assembly on Wednesday that the sovereign equality the UN proclaims is contradicted by its own structures, urging Member States to reform the Security Council and an international financial system “built for another age”.
🔴 LIVE NOW The Security Council turns its attention to artificial intelligence at 3pm as the global debate over AI safety – and who controls it – intensifies at the UN. Tech leaders driving the AI race, including the heads of OpenAI, Anthropic and Hugging Face, are due to…
Five years of war. Another winter closing in. Today, the Security Council once again debates a path to peace – though any resolution still runs up against the veto of Russia, one of its own permanent members, whose objections have repeatedly stalled any consensus. As world…
UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts on Monday laid out a grim picture of the human cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with a spotlight on civilians facing a third wartime winter as well as the intimidation of Russians who have fled abroad.
UN peacekeepers have increasingly been sent into places where there is no peace to keep – under resourced, outgunned and exposed to violence they are not equipped to counter. The Security Council meets this afternoon in New York to confront that problem, with Secretary-General…
While Syria is making progress in its political transition, the Security Council is meeting to hear briefings and discuss the situation on the ground, including recent reports of deadly armed clashes with an ISIS-affiliate terrorist group in the south and protests over rising…
Independent investigators appointed by the UN’s Human Rights Council found “reasonable grounds” to believe that the United States committed war crimes during “indiscriminate attacks” against an Iranian school and residential area.
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the continuing presence of terrorist groups as well as rights violations against women and girls are a growing concern as the Security Council meets Wednesday to hear the latest updates, including from a civil society…
Amid rising violence in Yemen, the Security Council has called an emergency meeting at 3pm (NY time) on Tuesday to discuss the situation in the critical Bab el-Mandeb Strait shipping route as UN agencies warn of rising displacement, including thousands of Yemenis fleeing to…
Poor management of toxic chemicals and hazardous waste threatens “many, if not all, human rights,” the newly appointed independent human rights independent expert on the rising threat told the Human Rights Council on Monday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres told leaders of a bloc of major emerging economies in New Delhi on Sunday that a more balanced global order requires an overhaul of the institutions built after the Second World War, including the UN Security Council.
The Security Council meets top of the hour to mark 25 years since the 9/11 attacks, with a briefing on counter-terrorism as ambassadors take stock of a threat that has morphed dramatically since resolution 1373 built the council's counter-terrorism machinery in 2001.…
On the heels of reported Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and the capture of another key port by the militants on Yemen’s Red Sea coast – including the seizure of eight UN vehicles from a key aid hub there – the Security Council is meeting on Thursday at 3pm in New…
The UN Security Council has welcomed a breakthrough agreement between Libya's rival political blocs, calling it "an important step" towards the country's first national elections in over a decade – while pressing all sides to move quickly from paper to practice.
A successful and lasting transition in Syria requires comprehensive accountability, inclusion and guarantees that violations will not be repeated, UN independent investigators told the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday.
The ongoing war in Sudan took centre stage at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday where the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, led calls for an end to attacks on civilians in “markets, hospitals [and] fuel stations”.
Following revelations from the UN nuclear watchdog that the former Syrian regime failed to report holding nuclear material and the discovery in May of an undeclared chemical weapons cache, the Security Council meets Thursday at 10am (local time) to be briefed on latest…
Peacekeepers in Lebanon have reported a marked deterioration in the security situation along the Blue Line of separation, with Israeli forces intensifying their military footprint in violation of a landmark Security Council resolution, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on…
Following Zambia’s contested presidential and parliamentary elections almost three weeks ago, the crackdown on political opposition has intensified, raising concerns about the future of democracy in the country, according to a UN Human Rights Council-appointed expert.
Following a deadly spate of gang attacks on civilians in Haiti and amid reports of illicit weapons slipping into the Caribbean country, the Security Council has called an emergency meeting at 3pm (local time) to hear and discuss the latest developments. UN News app users can…
As Damascus continues to rebuild after more than a decade of war – from the recent dissolution of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to the United States’ removal of Syria from its sponsors of terrorism list – a top UN official warned the Security Council on Thursday that…
Amid illegal Israeli settlement surges, continued attacks in Gaza and the West Bank alongside tensions throughout Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Security Council is meeting at 10am (local time) on Wednesday to hear briefings on the latest developments. UN News app users…
The Security Council is currently hearing top UN officials brief on the latest updates about war-torn Sudan as escalating conflict, drone strikes against civilians, displacement, hunger and flooding affects millions and UN agencies strive to deliver lifesaving aid. UN News app…
Spiralling drone and missile attacks on civilians in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war were in the spotlight on Monday as the Security Council hears the latest reports from UN officials about the situation on the ground. UN News app users can follow our live coverage here.
The Security Council is meeting on Libya Tuesday as the country faces a political impasse delaying long-planned elections alongside heatwaves, tensions and violence, including drone strikes last week that left a major oil refinery ablaze. UN News app users can follow here.
Independent UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts on Tuesday condemned the execution of at least 16 people in Singapore for drug-related offences this year and urged the country to end its “continued and unlawful use of capital punishment.”
As tensions triggered by the US-Iran war continue to ripple across the Middle East, the Security Council holds an open debate Thursday on Yemen, where escalating deadly military clashes are worsening an already fragile humanitarian situation amid fears that recent Houthi…
The Security Council holds an open debate on Tuesday which is expected to address escalating Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinians and their property continue. UN News app users can follow here.
Myanmar's military has carried out a sustained campaign of deliberate attacks on civilians – including airstrikes on homes, schools and camps for displaced people, alongside arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence – according to Human Rights Council-appointed…
Nearly eight million people in South Sudan – more than half the population – face crisis-level hunger, with famine risk now flagged in four counties, as the Security Council meets this morning in New York. A cholera outbreak has killed more than 1,700 people, and some aid…
The Security Council is meeting on Wednesday to examine the persistent threat posed by the terrorist group ISIL, also known as Dae’sh, to international peace and security. At a conference in June, the acting head of the UN counter-terrorism office stated that Al Qaeda, Da’esh,…
Regional tensions are mounting as the US-Iran war continues and a rising number of Israeli attacks are threatening Gaza’s fragile October ceasefire that ended two years of war with Hamas. Security Council members are hearing updates on Tuesday. Join our live coverage.
The UN Security Council is meeting on Monday at Ukraine’s request, following recent large-scale Russian attacks on Kyiv and elsewhere. At least one civilian was killed and more than a dozen wounded in an overnight strike on the capital on 19 July that also damaged homes and…
The Security Council is debating on Thursday how best to settle disputes between States peacefully. Ambassadors will be exploring such themes as effective early warning and how to move from rhetorical support for preventive diplomacy to ensuring more consistent use of its…
Amar Bendjama, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the UN, was elected on Thursday to serve as the next president of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The Security Council meets this morning to debate critical minerals — the lithium, cobalt and copper powering the clean energy transition. Demand is set to triple by 2030. The question: will this mineral wealth build peace and prosperity, or fund conflict and corruption? Follow…
The Security Council is holding its monthly debate on Syria amid reports of an Israeli attack in occupied territory and discussions of a multi-national oil pipeline to counter the closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz – still the focus of the ongoing US-Iran war. The meeting…
The Security Council meets at 3pm on Wednesday for an update on the International Criminal Court's work in Sudan's Darfur region, referred to the Court back in 2005. Focus has recently turned to atrocities in the ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and…
As Colombia awaits the inauguration of its newly elected president, pockets of insecurity remain a challenge for a nation that has overcome decades of conflict, the head of the UN verification team there told the Security Council on Wednesday.
As the UN chief’s Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, calls for swift de-escalation following reports of Saudi Arabian airstrikes and Iranian aircraft landing in the country, the Security Council’s emergency meeting at 3pm (local time) on Monday heard briefings from top…
As tensions mount in the Middle East amid new strikes across the region, the Security Council is convening on Friday to discuss the status of its 2015 resolution on the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Stay tuned for live updates.
The Security Council must use every tool and diplomatic channel to reach an urgent de-escalation, Rosemary DiCarlo, chief of UN political and peacebuilding affairs, told an emergency meeting on Thursday amid escalating deadly Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian…
The UN Security Council is holding an open debate Tuesday honouring the promise of international law to survivors of sexual violence in conflict as more reports emerge about warring parties using rape as a weapon, actions that constitute war crimes. Stay tuned for live updates…
The 15-member Security Council is meeting in emergency session on Thursday morning to address the escalating tensions in the Gulf region following Iran attacks in recent days on Bahrain and Kuwait while Tehran and Washington continue to trade strikes over the Strait of Hormuz…
Israeli settlement activities in occupied Palestinian territory, declared illegal under a decade-old resolution, are under the spotlight at the Security Council’s open meeting at 10am local time on Monday, with updates from the office of the UN Special Coordinator for the…
The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted a draft resolution on Thursday renewing the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months.
The UN Security Council is meeting on Thursday for an open debate on strengthening protections for children caught in armed conflict. The Secretary-General's latest report reveals that in 2025, soldiers and Government forces were responsible for more grave violations…
The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday that calls for accountability for crimes committed against UN peacekeepers.
Syria has emerged after more than a decade of crisis with “clear signs of progress”, but acute needs remain and efforts must boost support so the country can “move from survival towards recovery”, UN officials told the Security Council on Monday.
The Security Council is holding an open meeting on Ukraine on Monday afternoon, with warnings of a “dangerous cycle of escalation” amid drone and missile attacks in briefings by Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General at the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding…
The UN Security Council has expressed alarm over reports of substantial military reinforcements by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) around El Obeid in Sudan, warning of the risk of a potential ground offensive on the city.
It’s 20 years to the day since the UN Human Rights Council began its work as the world’s principal forum tasked with promoting and defending fundamental rights everywhere, particularly the world’s most vulnerable people.
From the invisibility of women and girls to “media deserts” amid an artificial intelligence (AI) tsunami, dozens of UN independent experts have been shedding light on the battle for equal rights worldwide as the Geneva-based Human Rights Council’s continued its annual session…
The Security Council debated conditions in Gaza at the request of its 10 elected members amid concern that the territory's humanitarian crisis is being overshadowed by wider regional developments. The meeting took place under a ceasefire that has existed in name since…
The UN Security Council met in New York Wednesday for its annual open debate on women, peace and security, in line with a 25-year-old resolution. The Secretary-General’s most recent report on the issue shows that in 2024, women made up only seven percent of negotiators on…